In a big relief to electricity consumers, power regulator UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has not hiked the power tariff for the current fiscal 2023-24.
The power regulator has not increased the power tariff for the fifth year in a row. The last revision in power tariff was done in 2018-19.
The development also assumes much significance in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls due next year.
UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) and its five wholly owned subsidiaries had sought a tariff hike of 18-23 per cent in their annual revenue requirement (ARR) petition filed before the power regulator in January this year.
The new tariff order will come into force as soon as approved by the government and notified by the UPPCL.
In a big relief for the power consumers of Noida, the power regulator has slashed the tariff by 10 per cent in its tariff order for 2023-24 issued on Thursday. The RP Goenka group-owned Noida Power Company Limited is the licensee power distributor in Noida. The maximum power tariff for Noida will be Rs 6.50 per unit.
The power tariff for urban consumers for consumption from 0-150 units per month will remain unchanged at Rs 5.50 per unit. The tariff for consumption of 151-300 units will be Rs 6 per unit and Rs 6.50 for consumption of 300 units and above.
The tariff for the urban BPL (below poverty line) consumers will be Rs 3 per unit for consumption up to 100 units per month.
For the rural area consumers, the tariff for consumption from 0 to 100 units per month will be Rs 3.35 per unit, Rs 3.85 per unit for consumption of 101-150 units, Rs 5 per unit for consumption of 151-300 units and Rs 5.50 per unit for consumption of 300 and above units per month.
There is no change in tariff for unmetered power connection which will be Rs 500 per kilowatt.
The power consumers, especially in the urban areas, will thus continue to pay their electricity bills as per the earlier slabs.
The electricity regulator, which held separate public hearings in all distribution companies, junked the proposal put forth by the UPPCL for a hike between 18 per cent to 23 per cent.
Announcing the tariff, UPERC Chairman RP Singh and commission members BK Srivastava and Sanjay Kumar Singh said that the tariff had not been increased as the UPPCL failed to justify the total expenditure shown by it in the ARR.
The power regulator has also directed the UPPCL to ensure that the electricity meters are installed at the residences of all power employees. Despite the repeated orders of the power regulator for the last over 10 years, the power employees have resisted the installation of meters at their residences.
The UPPCL had proposed a revenue requirement of Rs 92,564 crore for 2023-24. The UPERC however approved Rs 86,579 crore. While the UPPCL in its ARR had projected the requirement of purchase of 141 billion units, the power regulator approved only 133.45 billion units. The regulator also slashed the line loss of 14.90 per cent projected by UPPCL, to 10.30 per cent.
A senior official in the UPERC said that there was no justification for increasing the tariff since the UPPCL was not able to justify any rise in expenses. The official said the reduction in line losses would make a significant contribution to the overall revenue collection by the UPPCL.
Avadesh Verma, member of the state Energy Advisory Committee, said UP was the only state in the country where the power tariff had not been hiked for the last five years. He said the UPPCL had been demanding the tariff revision every year but the power regulator had rejected the demand.
